You're Not Alone Anymore
by EsTeLweNadia
Summary: Three-shot. Greatly inspired and influenced by 'You're Not Alone', by LadyTsuru27. You will never know what you've got till it's gone. Or in this case, nearly, gone. A near-death experience shows Tetsuhiro that he isn't as alone as he thinks he is. Hurt!Tetsuhiro. UPDATED!
1. Part One

**Title**: You're Not Alone (remix)

**By**: EsTeLweNadia

**Summary**: Two-shot. Greatly inspired and influenced by You're Not Alone, by LadyTsuru27. You will never know what you've got till it's gone. Or in this case, nearly gone. A near-death experience shows Tetsuhiro that he isn't as alone as he thinks he is. Hurt!Tetsuhiro.

**Genre**: Hurt/Comfort/Friendship/Romance/Angst

**Warnings**: Senpai and his mouth… But I'll try to tone it down.

**Disclaimer**: Characters afflicted are not mine, and will never be. Except in my dreams, maybe. ^^

**Author's Note**: I love her story very much! Coz it contained Hurt!Tetsuhiro! Haha! I'm so mean! While I was reading her fic, my mind automatically conjured up ideas to tweak the story a bit, so here is the result, written with her permission! Thank you very much, _LadyTsuru27_! This story is dedicated to you and written for you for being so awesome! ^^

**Author's Note 2**: Any mistakes seen are mine, and mine alone. I am not perfect, and I did the best I could. Reviews are immensely appreciated, so please have them coming! Now what are you waiting for? Get on reading! ^^

* * *

_I wonder… will I be missed… if I'm dead…?_

_Will any of them cry?_

Will they care... or will they be happy that they have finally gotten rid of me?

_I am nothing but a disappointment to them, afterall..._

Startled by a sudden train of morbid thoughts, Tetsuhiro nearly tripped and dropped the stack of papers he was precariously balancing.

His heart thundered violently within the confines of his chest, overcame with the unwelcome onset of fear.

But why? The day had been excellent. The weather was beautiful, the experiments were showing promising results, Fukushima-sensei was very pleased with their progress and Senpai was in a good mood.

So why was he having some sort of a foreboding feeling?

_It'll be okay_, Tetsuhiro tried to reassure himself. _I'm just being silly. Nothing's going to happen. Everything is going to be fine._

So Tetsuhiro whistled happily as he made his way to his assigned workstation. Senpai had gone back to their apartment for awhile to retrieve some documents, and he would be returning shortly. In the meantime, he had tasked Tetsuhiro to oversee their experiments in the lower laboratory area. They would be wrapping everything up by five, because Senpai had to be home for his family dinner. Tetsuhiro was invited, of course, and he tried to decline. No matter how close he was to Senpai, he was still considered an outsider, afterall, and he hated to intrude in the happy occasion, but Senpai had insisted him to come along.

"_Right now we're living together, and for now you're not completely unrelated…"_

Hmm, what exactly did Senpai mean by that?

_I'll ask him when I have the chance,_ Tetsuhiro decided as he entered his workstation.

He caught the scent of freshly-mowed grass and dismissed it without another thought. There was nobody around, but this sort of thing had happened before. Someone had probably left a vent open, and now he could smell the fresh clippings from the outside.

He set the stack of papers on one of the tables with a relieved sigh. Time to get to work.

As he began to set up his work for the day, his thoughts began to wander. Family, huh? Senpai's family had already known him, but his family didn't know of Senpai. He wondered what would happen if he brought Senpai over to see his family. Would Senpai come with him? What would his family think?

_They will probably chase us out_, Tetsuhiro thought in dismay, his usually deft hands stalling for a few seconds. _I don't think they even want to see me again, much less want to meet Senpai. Afterall, I am nothing but a burden to them…_

It _hurt_. He missed his family so dearly. It had been _years_ since he had last saw them, contacted them… he really missed them so desperately. He missed that stern but affectionate look on his Father's face, he missed his Mother's warm smiles, and he missed _everything_ about them. Even though he had met up with Nii-san a few times, that alone simply wasn't enough to fill the void of missing his family.

Tetsuhiro fought back his tears.

He was all alone now. Even with Senpai… and even more so with Senpai's family. Watching Senpai interacting with his little sister, bickering with his little brother, grumbling at his father… he felt the pain more keenly.

It wasn't like Tetsuhiro didn't have a family.

He had.

But…

Tetushiro took a few deep, shuddering breaths.

And began to cough.

_What the…_

He broke into a vicious coughing fit, his body almost doubling over with the effort.

Wheezing as he tried to straighten himself up, the room spun crazily for a moment, and his sudden vertigo caused him to stumble and knock into something. Whatever it was, it collapsed to the floor with a deafening _crash_.

His light-headedness refused to abate, and his vision refused to clear.

It was only then Tetsuhiro started to realize something.

_The smell of freshly-mowed grass…_

But the grass had been trimmed nearly a month ago, and he was in the basement!

So it wasn't possible!

Unless…

_Phosgene. It must be a phosgene gas leak!_

Tetsuhiro tried to panic, but he then discovered that he lacked the breath to. Breathing became even more difficult; made worse by a burning sensation in his throat and eyes and he couldn't seem to stop coughing.

_Senpai…_

For a brief moment he was glad it was him in there, and not Senpai.

_Thank goodness… it was me, and not Senpai…_

He stumbled his way out of the lab, using pure instinct and memory to guide him out to safety. He tripped a few times, but he always managed to climb back up to his feet and forced himself forward. The air became fresher with every step he took, but the heaviness in his lungs refused to abate.

"Morinaga?"

Senpai.

Senpai sounded worried. Tetsuhiro hated himself for making Senpai worried.

"Oi, Morinaga!"

He had to warn Senpai.

"Senpai…" he croaked, erupting into another bout of relentless coughing for the attempt. "Don't... go to basement. Phosgene gas… leak…"

The next thing he knew, he was falling…

… right into Senpai's arms.

"Morinaga!"

The last thing he heard was Senpai's frantic voice calling his name…

… then he knew nothing more.

* * *

"Morinaga! Oi, Morinaga! Wake up!"

It was no use. Morinaga didn't even twitch. No matter how hard Souichi had shaken him, how many times Souichi had slapped him, how loud his voice was calling his name, Morinaga just wouldn't open his eyes.

"Argh, _dammit_!"

Souichi had gone back to their shared apartment to find some documents, but his search was stopped short because of his worsening sense of uneasiness. Like he knew something really bad was going to happen, and it wouldn't go away until something bad did happen, or that he managed to prevent it from happening. Souichi knew from past experience that it didn't do him any good if he was to ignore that feeling. So he abandoned his search immediately and rushed back to the university where he knew Morinaga was completing a task he was assigned to do.

Souichi made a mental note to thank all available deities for bringing him back to Morinaga's side in the nick of time.

Because if not…

Souichi refused to think about it.

"Yamaguchi!" He barked, already scooping Morinaga into his arms and rising to his feet. "Inform Fukushima-sensei about the phosgene gas leak in the basement. After that, bring Morinaga's bag and my bag over to the shower room nearby. Make haste! The rest of you, keep clear from the basement! Someone, please help to call the ambulance!"

Souichi left the scene as quickly as he could.

Morinaga's dead weight should have slowed him down, but worry and urgency propelled him effortlessly to the facility. Thank goodness the shower room wasn't very far.

Once inside a shower stall, Souichi gently laid Morinaga on the floor. Turning on the shower full blast, Souichi stripped Morinaga of his clothes as quickly as he could, down to his undergarments. He cut the tee shirt off instead, not wanting to risk the toxic on the clothes to touch any Morinaga's face. The stream of water rained relentlessly on them, yet Souichi ignored the icy blast as he concentrated on lathering soap all over the prone body, using as much soap as he could and not missing any inch of the exposed skin. He wasn't sure how long he spent in the shower trying to wash off the toxin from Morinaga, but when the chill set in and his teeth started to clatter, only then he shut off the water and hauled Morinaga out of the stall.

As soon as both of them were changed into dry clothes, Souichi wrapped Morinaga with a dry towel and held him close to his chest.

"Please, Morinaga," he whispered. The younger man was still unresponsive; limp and cold in his arms. "Don't do this to me…"

_I love you…_

_I need you…_

_So please… come back…_

- _**To be Continued**_ -

* * *

Can't think of a better title… *gloomy*

Seriously, I hate coming up with titles, because I'm that _bad_at coming up with titles! So if any of you have a better title, let me know. ^^

I know I have _yet_ to conclude _**You Are Not Alone**_, and continue with my _**Save Me**_ (not necessarily in that order) but some things just can't be helped, you see… so I'm really sorry! I'll get back to it as soon as I find the inspiration to. Promise!

I did a little research on phosgene, so I hope I didn't mess anything up…

Thank you for reading!

It's almost 3.00 A.M now, so I guess I'll stop here.

As usual, reviews are immensely welcome and appreciated! ^^

See you in the next chapter! ^^


	2. Part Two

**Title**: You're Not Alone Anymore

**By**: EsTeLweNadia

**Summary**: Three-shot. Greatly inspired and influenced by **'**_**You're Not Alone'**_, by _LadyTsuru27_. You will never know what you've got till it's gone. Or in this case, _nearly,_ gone. A near-death experience shows Tetsuhiro that he isn't as alone as he thinks he is. Hurt!Tetsuhiro. UPDATED!

**Genre**: Hurt/Comfort/Friendship/Family/Angst

**Warnings**: Senpai and his mouth… But I'll try to tone it down.

**Disclaimer**: Characters afflicted are not mine, and will never be. Except in my dreams, maybe. ^^

**Author's Note**: Thank you very much for your tireless support, especially to _LadyTsuru27_ and _UniGirl2._ Your reviews are very encouraging and they never fail to make me blush everytime. I didn't think I was worth your compliments, but now, thinking about it, I think I do. Thank you very much! I really, really appreciate every bit of it. ^^

**Author's Note 2**: Any mistakes seen are mine, and mine alone. I am not perfect, and I did the best I could. Reviews are immensely appreciated, so please have them coming! Now what are you waiting for? Get on reading! ^^

* * *

**Part Two**

Souichi sat on the cold, hard plastic chair, thoughtlessly fingering Morinaga's phone in his palm.

It had been an hour since Morinaga was pushed into an emergency room, and Souichi couldn't help but silently worry.

Souichi couldn't help thinking that if only he didn't send Morinaga down to the basement to oversee their experiments… none of this would be happening…

_It's not your fault, Senpai_, Souichi could almost hear Morinaga say. He could almost see the soft smile, the understanding and love spilling from those gentle eyes. _If you had known, you wouldn't send me anywhere near there. You hadn't known, so it is not your fault, so don't worry, okay?_

"Morinaga…"

Tears started to drip ceaselessly down his cheeks to splash onto his lap, but he didn't care. There was no one else in the waiting area; only him, the lonely chairs and empty blank walls.

Morinaga had always been like that; so selfless, so considerate, so understanding, kind and sincere. He had never once blamed Souichi of anything, even when sometimes it had been clearly Souichi's fault in the first place. Numerous times Souichi had carelessly thrown scathing remarks, brushing him off, pushing him away yet Morinaga had always bounced right back and still happily tailed after him. But Souichi had inadvertently caught hurt flashing in those expressive emerald eyes before Morinaga smoothly shelved it away.

"_Get out! Don't let me see your face for awhile!"_

"_I don't need you!"_

_"Don't screw with me, you kusotawake! How the hell are you and I… sex friends!"_

"_Go ahead and withdraw from the university or do whatever the fuck you want, I don't care!"_

"_Don't you dare come here, baka! I'll kill you for real if you dare come!"_

"_When have you ever looked out for how I feel?! There has never been a single time when I did it with you because I wanted to!"_

"_Your feelings? I don't know! Isn't that your own convenient interpretation?! And what the hell do you mean by 'jealous' anyway?! Stop thinking that anything and everything is about that! And seriously, enough of this bullshit about_ love!"

"I'm so sorry, Morinaga…"

Morinaga had looked so hurt, so heartbroken then, yet Souichi either had never paid him any heed, or simply didn't care. And he had never really apologized properly, although he knew Morinaga loved him too much to hold a grudge, but still…

"Excuse me, are you with Morinaga Tetsuhiro?"

Startled, Souichi launched to his feet immediately. A tall doctor with short black hair but long fringe falling over frameless spectacles stood in front of him, accompanied by a curvaceous nurse whose blonde bangs was pushed neatly to the left side of her face, aside from two locks falling freely on both her left and right. She was holding onto a clipboard and was watching him with glittering blue eyes.

His nametag read as Munakata Reishi, and the nurse was Awashima Seri.

"Are you a family member?" Awashima asked, arching a slender eyebrow dubiously.

"No, I'm not," Souichi answered. Then, afraid that they would turn him away and refused to talk to him just because he wasn't a family member, Soichi hastily added, "But his family is already on their way here. I am Tatsumi Souichi, his Senpai from the University. So how is he, Munakata-sensei?

"Were you the one who attended to him immediately after the incident?" The doctor asked instead of answering the question, much to Souichi's irritation.

"Yes, I was," replied Souichi with forced politeness. "Is there any problem?"

Munakata had the nerve to chuckle. "Oh, no. It was actually quick thinking on your part, Tatsumi-san. If you hadn't washed the toxins off, I'm afraid that Morinaga would have complications by now."

Souichi opened his mouth to repeat his earlier question but the doctor swiftly overrode him. "His condition is stable now. Nonetheless, I would like to observe him for a few more days to ensure that there will be no complications, and if there are, touch wood, we will proceed with the necessary treatment."

"Understood," Souichi nodded. "May I go see him now?"

The doctor nodded crisply. "Yes, you may. Please do not disturb him too much; he needs a lot of rest."

With that Munakata and his assistant walked off, leaving Souichi alone by the corridor.

But Souichi didn't want to enter the room just yet. He had some phonecalls to make.

He glanced down at Morinaga's phone again. The only way to contact Morinaga's family was using his phone, because Souichi had no record whatsoever. Well, it couldn't be helped.

Souichi used a thumb to swipe at the screen, unlocking the phone. When he discovered that there was one more obstacle to overcome before he could access Morinaga's phone, Souichi cursed under his breath.

He needed a password, and there were four boxes. Below was a list of hiragana he was supposed to choose from to form the correct password.

But Morinaga was being Morinaga… so it didn't take long for Souichi to figure it out.

Confidently he typed in せん(senpai) using the hiragana and instantly, he got through.

_You're too easy_, Souichi crowed smugly, only to stop abruptly to stare at the phone in sheer disbelief.

Because on the phone, as the wallpaper, or theme, or whatever, was a picture of him and Morinaga in tuxedo suits and a banquet of flowers and champagne and ribbons. Morinaga was smiling brightly, and he was scowling as usual.

"Where the hell did he get this picture from?!" Souichi snarled, flushing in embarrassment and mortification.

But… to have him as his password, and their photo as the wallpaper… that only showed how much Morinaga loved him.

Too much, apparently… it was almost scary…

_Baka_…

Souichi scrolled through the phonebook until he reached the name '_Nii-san_'.

Hmm, he could talk to the idiot bro. He tapped on it and lifted the phone to his ear.

It took a full minute before the line was picked up.

"Tetsuhiro? What's the matter?"

Gruff, irritated even, but Souichi could detect a hint of concern in his tone.

"Hey, idiot bro, sorry, but I'm not Tetsuhiro," Souichi said coldly, "I'm his Senpai. I just want to let you know that Tetsuhiro has been hospitalized…"

"_WHAT_?!"

Souichi flinched at the exclamation but he continued anyway, "There has been a phosgene gas leak in one of the laboratories and he was caught up in it. The doctor said his condition is stable but he still needs to stay in the hospital for a few more days for observation."

He rattled off the address of the hospital and location of Morinaga's room.

"If you and your family still treat Tetsuhiro as one of your own, you are welcome to drop by anytime," Souichi ended the conversation with a sneer, ignoring the plaintive "_WAIT_!" before he disconnected the call.

Yes, he was still pissed at the way Morinaga's family treated Morinaga.

But they still deserved to know what had happened to their son.

Souichi scowled as he put the phone away. Now he had to make a call to his own family.

"Oh, hi, Kanako," he greeted meekly, "I'm sorry, but I can't come home for family dinner tonight. Morinaga has been hospitalized…" He grimaced at shouts of disbelief he heard in the background. "Phosgene gas leak. He was caught up in it. But don't worry! Doctor said his condition is stable. He is sleeping right now, anyway, so you all can visit him tomorrow. Me? I guess I'll stay here with him." A slight pause. "Yeah, yeah, alright. I know how to take care of myself! Bye now!"

Souichi flipped close his phone with an annoyed huff. He just couldn't understand why his family had so much difficulty in believing that he could take care of himself just fine on his own.

Pocketing both phones, he entered Morinaga's room...

… and stopped to stare for awhile.

Morinaga was lying on the bed, pale and motionless, with an oxygen mask covering his nose and mouth. He looked so young, so frail and so lonely Souichi felt his heart breaking just by looking at him. Machines silently thrummed by the other side of the bed; various wires trailing down and disappeared under the covers, probably to monitor Morinaga's condition. Souichi had no wish to know where the wires were attached to. Without realizing it, Souichi reached the bedside, his hand already hovering to rest itself on Morinaga's hair.

It was soft and warm.

Souichi gently brushed errant bangs from the pale forehead, allowing his fingers to linger on the smooth skin, trailing his palm down to cup Morinaga's cheek. Even with his light ministrations, Morinaga still did not stir.

Until, moving out of his own volition, Souichi bent down to plant a brief kiss on his kouhai's brow.

Souichi heard a sharp intake of breath, and he was so startled he almost gave himself a whiplash. Immediately he turned his attention to Morinaga.

The younger man had his eyes open; blinking owlishly as he tried to gather his thoughts. As soon as he had focused his vision on Souichi, his lips began to move, but no sound came out.

Still, Souichi was able to make out what Morinaga was trying to say.

_Senpai…_

"Hush, Morinaga," Souichi took the hand closest to him and rest his own on Morinaga's temple, as if trying to reassure him of his presence. "It's okay. Just rest, okay?"

_I'm… sorry_, the oxygen mask became slightly clouded as Morinaga weakly mouthed the words, so Souichi lifted the mask and leaned closer to him so he could hear Morinaga speak, _for ruining your family's dinner… You shouldn't be here… Senpai… you should go back to your family… I'll be fine…_

"Morinaga, you baka!" Souchi valiantly tried to hold back his tears. It wouldn't do him any good to let Morinaga see him cry; that idiot would probably blame himself some more. "I'm not going anywhere. I'm staying right here with you, okay? So you just rest and concentrate on getting better! I'll stay here with you. I won't leave, so that's why… that's why…"

Souichi couldn't continue, because if he did, his voice would surely crack and he would definitely lose his composure.

There was a slight smile on Morinaga's lips now. _I love you, Senpai…_

Souichi watched as the eyes fall shut, and just like that, Morinaga was unconscious again.

Only then Souichi allowed his tears to fall free.

_I love you, too, baka._

- **To be Continued** -

* * *

It happened again… I know, I'm sorry!

I intended this to be a two-shot, but the story just spiraled out of control. Again.

To be concluded in the final part… I hope! *blush sheepishly*

By the way, Munakata Reishi and Awashima Seri are also characters from [K] Anime Project. You should really look them up! ^^

I hope you are happy with the latest installment so far!

So I'll see you again in the final chapter! ^^


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